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Errani Will Claim WTA World No. 1 Doubles Ranking Next Week

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced on Tuesday that Italyâ€™s Sara Errani will rise to the World No.1 doubles ranking on Monday, September 10. Errani replaces co-No.1s Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond in the top spot, and becomes only the second Italian to hold the honor, after Flavia Pennetta, who was ranked No.1 for 18 weeks in 2011. Erraniâ€™s partner, fellow Italian Roberta Vinci, is also set to achieve a career-high doubles ranking of No.2.

â€œI would like to congratulate Sara on becoming the WTAâ€™s World No.1 doubles player,â€ said Stacey Allaster, WTA Chairman and CEO. “Sara has had an amazing year in singles and doubles, reaching both finals at Roland Garros and winning 11 titles. Sara, along with her partner Roberta, achieved a historic feat at Roland Garros by becoming the first all-Italian team to win a Grand Slam doubles title. Their hard work and determination has paid off and is earning them fans around the world.â€

â€œBecoming WTA No.1 in doubles is a dream come true,â€ said Errani. â€œItâ€™s what you play for! Weâ€™ve won a lot of titles this year and to share such success with a friend like Roberta is amazing. Playing a lot of matches in both singles and doubles has been good for my confidence.â€

Errani, and her regular doubles partner, countrywoman Vinci, have had an outstanding year, winning seven doubles titles, highlighted by becoming the first all-Italian pair to win a Grand Slam doubles title at Roland Garros. Between April and June the duo won five consecutive titles â€“ Barcelona Ladies Open, Mutua Madrid Open, Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Rome), Roland Garros and UNICEF Open (‘s-Hertogenbosch) â€“ and their 25-match win streak was the longest by a team since 1994, when Gigi FernÃ¡ndez and Natasha Zvereva won 28 straight. The pair currently leads the Race to the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships-Istanbul doubles standings.

Erraniâ€™s quarterfinal appearance at the Generali Ladies Linz with Alberta Brianti last year gives her a slight ranking advantage over Vinci, who will also rise to a new career-high next week, at No.2.

At 25 years old, Errani is enjoying a career year in 2012. In addition to her doubles accomplishments she reached her first Grand Slam singles final at Roland Garros (l. Sharapova), breaking into the singles Top 10. She has also won four singles titles â€“ at Abierto Mexicano TELCEL (Acapulco), Barcelona Ladies Open, Budapest Grand Prix and XXV Italiacom Open (Palermo).

During the course of her career, Errani has won six singles and 15 doubles titles. In addition, she has represented Italy in Fed Cup competition for five consecutive years (including championship runs in 2009 and 2010), and competed in two Olympic Games.